Superpowers of the world list

Gianni Infantino met Putin in the Black Sea resort of Sochi as Russia races against the clock to put the finishing touches on preparations for the Jun 14-July 15 final. FIFA president Gianni Infantino (left) and Russian president Vladimir Putin visit the Fisht Stadium in the Black Sea resort of Sochi. (AFP/Alexey NIKOLSKY) MOSCOW: FIFA boss Gianni Infantino said on Thursday (May 3) Russia was "absolutely ready" to host the World Cup and thanked President Vladimir Putin for his commitment to the football showpiece. Infantino met Putin in the Black Sea resort of Sochi as Russia races against the clock to put the finishing touches on preparations for the Jun 14-July 15 final. The first World Cup staged in eastern Europe will be the most expensive ever and comes in the heat of flaring tensions between Russia and the West. It has also been shadowed by stadium construction delays and fears ranging from hooliganism to racist chants at matches. But Infantino lavished praise on … [Read more...] about FIFA boss says Russia ‘absolutely ready’ for World Cup

French President Nicolas Sarkozy said Saturday that he wanted to work with Russia to give developing nations a larger say in how to regulate the global economy. Global financial institutions such as the World Bank and International Monetary Fund — created at the Bretton Woods conference in New Hampshire 1944 — are outdated and must be replaced, Sarkozy told an economic forum in St. Petersburg hosted by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. "We all need to think about the foundations for a new international financial system. We've been based on the Bretton Woods institutions of 1945, when our American friends were the only superpower," Sarkozy said. "My question is: Are we still in 1945? The answer here is, 'no,'" he said. While the Bretton Woods conference took place in 1944, the International Monetary Fund was officially established a year later, when the 29 countries that had participated signed its Articles of Agreement. Sarkozy said the United Nations has too many members … [Read more...] about France, Russia vow to promote global role of G-20

Cuba has welcomed as "fair" a US decision to remove it from a list of state sponsors of terrorism, saying it should never have been on the list in the first place. The move comes amid a normalisation of ties between the US and Cuba. The Caribbean country's presence on the list alongside Syria, Iran and Sudan was a sticking point for Cuba during talks to reopen embassies. A US trade embargo against Cuba remains and can only be ended by Congress. Mr Obama met Cuban President Raul Castro at the Summit of the Americas in Panama last week, four months after he announced a historic thaw in ties with the communist island nation. The US president said on Tuesday that the government of Cuba had "not provided any support for international terrorism" over the past six months. He added that it had "provided assurances that it will not support acts of international terrorism in the future". A statement from Josefina Vidal, Cuba's top diplomat responsible for dealing with the US, said: "The Cuban … [Read more...] about Cuba praises ‘fair’ US pledge on terrorism list

The Varyag's launch comes at a fraught time. China's armed forces are
modernizing and after a decadelong charm offensive in East and Southeast Asia,
Beijing has begun taking a more aggressive stand on territorial disputes.
The last time the aircraft carrier once known as the Varyag generated this much
concern, it was for fear it might sink. The ship was one of the Soviet Union's
last naval commissions, but construction at the Black Sea shipyard of Mykolaiv
was abandoned in 1992 after the U.S.S.R.'s breakup. The Varyag languished as an
unfinished hulk until 1998, when a Chinese company, based in Macau and with ties
to the Chinese navy, bought it from Ukraine, ostensibly to take the ship to the
gambling enclave as a floating casino.
Turkish officials worried that the 300-m vessel — a rusting shell without
weaponry, engines or navigation equipment — would sink while crossing the
Bosphorus Strait, causing an environmental headache and a hazard to navigation.
So … [Read more...] about China is playing hardball on the diplomatic front

Figuring out where an economy's going to go can be tricky. You could look at GDP growth trends, home sales, company earnings forecasts -- and still have only a vague idea. But there's another gauge that is perhaps a more accurate indicator: beer sales. Beer sales in much of the developed world including the U.S. and Western Europe have lost their froth in recent years. They've also been falling flat for more than a decade in Japan, and are at a more than 60-year low in Australia as aging consumers turn to whisky and wine. In contrast, the suds are surging in many developing Asian nations on rising incomes, younger populations and improving distribution. Even once-reclusive Myanmar is on tap. The good news for brewers is that despite -- or perhaps because of -- an economic slowdown, the Chinese are forecast by BMI Research to be knocking back the beers even as they cut back on more pricey tipples. "The alcohol sector tends to be more vulnerable to economic cycles than food staples, as … [Read more...] about Where are the next superpowers brewing? Look at beer sales